Audio Download

Proverbs 3:1-12 – For Whom The Lord Loves

[Study Aired Nov 14, 2024]

Proverb’s chapter one reminds us that Christ is our wisdom (1Co 1:27-31, Pro 1:1-7) and that there is an order to how God gives the body of Christ that wisdom through the church being guided by our head Jesus Christ.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence. 
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

1Co 2:3  And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 
1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 

Chapter two makes it clear that there must be a strong desire and ongoing resolve in the heart of the believer to continue to abide in the truth as we pursue after wisdom whose value is greater than anything we can compare her to in the earth, “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God” and, “Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path“.

Pro 2:1  My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 
Pro 2:2  So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 
Pro 2:3  Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 
Pro 2:4  If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 
Pro 2:5  Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. 
Pro 2:6  For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 
Pro 2:7  He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 
Pro 2:8  He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. 
Pro 2:9  Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

A main theme being  brought out in chapter three is how we are to pursue wisdom in order to learn the benefit and blessing that will result in the lives of those who continue to cleave unto Christ who is our wisdom (1Co 1:30).

The reward for God’s elect who are blessed in this age to be dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) is to learn of the mind of him who is the way, the truth and the life (Joh 14:6, 1Co 2:16) to ultimately be in that blessed and holy first resurrection, which is what this 35th verse points to, “The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools” (Pro 3:35, 2Co 3:18, Rom 2:7).

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 

Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 

Pro 3:1  My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 
Pro 3:2  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 

We can all learn the law of God and then forget it, or hear it and not be a doer of it (Jas 1:22-25), also not benefitting us in any way; but to the one who is granted to have a heart that keeps God’s commandments and continue in them (Joh 8:31-32) as doers of the word, he shall find “length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee“. The promise of “length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee” refers to the life of Christ within us who is our length of days (“you have the words of eternal life“(Joh 6:68)), our life (Joh 14:6), and the one who gives us peace that passes all understanding as we are justified through the ongoing relationship that we have with Him and His body (Php 4:7, 1Jn 1:7, Eph 5:8).

Jas 3:13  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 
Jas 3:14  But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 
Jas 3:15  This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 
Jas 3:16  For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 
Jas 3:17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 
Jas 3:18  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  

Eph 5:8  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy (Mic 6:8) and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 

The next time we see the expression “bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart“ is in (Pro 6:20-21), which is in the midst of these verses, (Pro 6:16-19), that talk about the six things that God hates and the seventh which is an abomination unto Him, and can only be replaced by mercy and truth being formed in the inner man (Eph 3:16).

Mic 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? 

Pro 6:20  My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 
Pro 6:21  Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. 

Pro 6:16  These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 
Pro 6:17 1 A proud look, 2 a lying tongue, and 3 hands that shed innocent blood, 
Pro 6:18  4 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, 5 feet that be swift in running to mischief, 
Pro 6:19  6 A false witness that speaketh lies, and 7 he that soweth discord among brethren. 

Eph 3:16  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 

We will find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man when we don’t forsake mercy or truth by continually binding them upon the table of our heart. Binding mercy and truth is what happens when we “keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother”(Pro 6:20, 1Jn 5:2).

None of this would be possible unless we were bound to the altar which is the cross (Psa 118:27-29), so we are being admonished in these sections of proverbs (Pro 3:3, Pro 6:21) to recognize who we are (1Co 3:16-17) and to understand that as that temple of God there is an ongoing cleansing work that is unfolding for God’s children, that Christ is performing within us (Php 2:12-13).

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 
Psa 118:28  Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 
Psa 118:29  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 
Pro 3:8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 

The way that we are going to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” is by putting off our flesh which can only happen through judgement (1Pe 4:17). It is then that we can acknowledge God in all our ways so that he can direct our steps. Our thoughts are brought into subjection unto God through Christ’s judgement in our heavens (2Co 10:5, 2Co 1:9). Then the action of our being led by the spirit of God will follow, bearing witness that we are His children (Rom 8:14-15). We are either going to acknowledge God so that he can direct our paths, or be wise in our own eyes and not depart from evil, and it will be by God’s chastening grace that His elect sons and daughters will go in a direction that our flesh does not want to go, a way that is precious unto God because it tries our faith and puts to death our old man (Heb 12:6, Joh 21:18, Psa 116:15).

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

Joh 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. 

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

The rich reward of being led by God’s spirit shall be spiritual health, spoken of in these terms, “health to thy navel” and “marrow to thy bones“, meaning the center of our spiritual strength, typified by our physical core, as it’s called in modern terminology, as well as the core of our bones that needs to be healthy which is where the marrow is formed that is used to produce the blood cells for the body. That healthy production of blood represents our being in the word and nourished together as a many-membered body of Christ, each joint supplying in love and not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together (Heb 10:25) believing in the spiritual nourishment that God will provide for those who abide in the midst of ‘Jerusalem above the mother of us all’ (Luk 24:49), the spiritual umbilical cord for the manchild that we are (Gal 4:26, Rev 12:5).

Pro 3:9  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 
Pro 3:10  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Everything we have belongs to God and as God’s firstfruits we present our lives as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2) which is how we “Honour the LORD with thy substance“, acknowledging that He is the one who gives us the power to plant and water, as well as give us “all thine increase” (1Co 3:7-8).

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 
1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 

Our barns being filled “with plenty“, and our presses that “burst out with new wine” symbolize the treasure laid up in earthen vessels that God gives us through Christ (2Co 4:7, Col 1:27, Mat 6:19-21) as we present all our lives a living sacrifice, so we can lay up store in His garners (Mal 3:6-12).

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,(Col 1:27) that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

Mat 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 
Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 
Mat 6:21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 
Mal 3:7  Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 
Mal 3:8  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 
Mal 3:9  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 
Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse [“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase“], that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven (Mat 6:19-21), and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 
Mal 3:11  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field [“So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine“], saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 3:12  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. 

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: 
Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. 

These last two verses we are looking at tonight explain what must occur in the lives of God’s elect in order to bring forth fruit, and again it is centered around the loving hand of our spiritual Father who receives His children through grace that chastens us, teaching us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:11-13) so that we can lay up treasure in heaven (Heb 12:5-10).

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: [“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction“]
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth [“For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth“]. 
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?[Pro 24:10] 
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 
Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?(Rom 8:18-19, 2Co 4:17-18, 1Co 10:13) 
Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 
2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.